On NOT running……and feeling fluffy with a side of headache

Wednesday was my first day back running after 10 days off and there are a couple things I need to say about this self imposed time away from running. Not that any of you would expect me to have a lot to say or anything!! LOL

The reason for the time off was to sort out something that is going on with my feet/lower legs, particularly the left side. Apparently, the long-standing issue I have with my piriformis also affects my IT band…which then translates to angry tendons in my lower leg. All Greek to you? It was to me as well until I was attempting our Fat Ass 50 miler 2 weeks ago and my left foot decided that it no longer wanted to lift up. Not only did the foot NOT want to lift, it hurt quite a bit. I’m no baby when it comes to pain so I sucked it up and tried to make it to the 50 mile mark but fell short of the goal by about 18 miles.

My good friend and training partner ND told me that we should err on the side of caution and just call it a night rather than push through it and risk further injury. NOT pushing is not my strong suit but with my eye on the prize (my FIRST 100 mile event!) I called it a day and went home to lick my wounds. I think my pride was hurt more than my body! Saying “Uncle” is not something I am ever overly thrilled about!

I gathered information from reliable sources such as athletic coaches, PA’s who are also runners and a couple friends who have ran 100’s. The consensus was, take time off from running to heal the angry tendon while using as many alternative methods of healing as possible. I was not a happy camper but thought to myself, how hard can it be to take a week to ten days off from running. I can do some more strength training, some aqua jogging and get some rest. Hmph! Right!

The first few days were alright. I played in the pool w/the aqua belt, iced my leg and waited for the swelling to go down. On the third day the area around my ankle was still swollen and I had an “ah ha” moment. I remembered there were some compression socks hanging around in my training clothes! The compression socks were found and promptly worn and VOILA like magic when I took them off 7 hours later- the swelling was GONE! Okay, great the swelling was gone but the lower leg/ankle area was still a bit sore to the touch.

My fabulous friend PW offered to give me a massage! Ooops….our schedules didn’t mesh and I was about to go stir crazy. I was agitated and felt bored….and did I say AGITATED?!! I needed to go run! I told my friend that I was going to run on Thursday and she promptly told me to WAIT. ARGH! Again with the waiting!

Through the entire week I still ate basically what I eat any other time, but I did have some foods that are not normally on my menu like red meat, pizza and peanut butter. I didn’t go overboard or anything but man was I feeling fluffy by Sunday! Sunday…my friend PW told me she had time to give me a MASSAGE!! WONDERFUL! Yah…wonderful and painful and OUCH! Have you heard of Active Release Therapy? My friend uses some of these techniques while massaging the body and I have to tell you – IT HURTS. She has these crazy strong fingers for such a small lady!! LOL When I walked out from the massage I wasn’t exactly sure if I felt better or not! By Tuesday though, I could tell my body was healing!

Now it had been 9 days since I ran last! I could FEEL the agitation rising in my brain and I had a headache every single day that I did not run. Every.Single.Day. By Wednesday I could not take it anymore and headed out for a run. Granted, it was around 30 degrees outside with the windchill making it feel around 21 degrees, and I was running on the road – not on my trails – but I was HAPPY! No pain in my leg and an ache in my lungs….heaven on earth!

Then I made the mistake of stepping on the scale……Oh crap! REALLY?! According to that particular evil contraption I GAINED 5 pounds in the 10 days I did not run!! 5 pounds! What the……….? So, this brings me to my next topic that I will post later today or tomorrow – this fascination we have with trying to follow the eating habits of other people and jumping on every bandwagon that happens along telling us that we need to eat this, or not eat that…..or that we can eat whatever we want as long as it’s in moderation….

Until next time…..
Peace

Oh yeah….and the story that I began last time is still taking shape and will most likely appear in pieces like this until maybe one day when I can put all the pieces together to put Humpty Dumpty back together again! 🙂